The name Soothey was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Soothey family lived in Lincolnshire, at Sotebi, from which their name is derived. The surname Soothey is thus, a local name, which means it derived from the name of a place where members of the family once owned land or where they may have resided.

Early Origins of the Soothey family

The surname Soothey was first found in Lincolnshire where Ralph of Sotby held the village and church of Sotebi from the Bishop of Bayeux. This village church is still famous for its Norman chancel arch.

Early History of the Soothey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Soothey research.Another 145 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1500, 1450, 1594, 1683, 1654, 1656, 1623, 1704 and 1659 are included under the topic Early Soothey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Soothey Spelling Variations

Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Sotheby, Sothaby, Sotherby, Southerby, Southby, Southey and many more.

Early Notables of the Soothey family (pre 1700)

Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Soothey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Soothey family to the New World and Oceana

To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Soothey or a variant listed above:

Soothey Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Elizabeth Soothey, who arrived in Virginia in 1624-1625 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)

See Also

Citations

^ Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)